Well, I didn’t think so but work committments kept me off my page for almost all of this week and as the nights wore on I found myself itching to get on to it to see who was doing/saying what and that’s when the penny dropped. I am a borderline addict. I say borderline because I haven’t reached the point yet when I get the shakes or the heebie geebies but I have to admit my thoughts kept wandering to my page and when I finally got on there this morning I felt a real rush!
This could be a worry because I never intended for Facebook to start ruling my life and I fear I could become one of those who have to check their page way too often in a 24 hour period. Feeling concerned, I voiced my concerns to a friend but she said I shouldn’t let it keep me awake because even if I do start spending too much time on there, I’ll eventually get over it and go back to signing in once every couple of days like I used to, not so long ago. The news was a relief.
Facebook is the only social network site I am signed in to and I did this mainly so I could keep up with family and also those friends who live long distances from me. It’s great! We can talk, exchange news and do all those other things that one does on such a site but I had no idea I was getting a bit too keen on it until I couldn’t find the time to access it this week. I’d be trying to concentrate on what I was supposed to be doing and I’d find my thoughts wandering over to wonder what all my contacts were doing on Facebook! This was so not good!
It could almost have me believing I don’t have a life outside of my computer but I do! I swear I do! I will actually seek people out just so I can talk to them face-to-face, which is a good thing as it keeps that particular skill alive and kicking, especially seeing as my work often requires me to interview people in real time and that is definitely a face-to-face thingy. But it’s good to get out and about in the real world anyway, that way you can check that it’s still there.
But what happened this week was an interesting experience and for the first time I can almost (not quite, but almost) understand how those who spend their entire life glued to their social network sites can get to that state in the first place. It sneaks up on you and before you can even think “Gosh! When was the last time I actually went outside and saw another human being?” it dawns on you that you have done no such thing in a very long time. Then you just forget that there is a world with people in it just ouside your door and then…well…you just forget everything. All that matters is the content on the screen in front of you. I so don’t want to end up there.
I probably won’t however, because I recongnised those little warning signs that began pinging when I was just too darned busy to pop onto Facebook earlier this week and then found myself wanting to drop everything and get online fast. So I keep telling myself it’s a temporary phase because I’m fairly new to social networking and that I will get over it, just like my friend said. I also keep telling myself that there is more to life than online chit-chat. Seriously, I’m telling myself three times a day now!
But when will I start listening to me…?!